-
Articles/Ads
Article WAS SHAKESPEARE A FREEMASON ? ← Page 3 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Was Shakespeare A Freemason ?
should be rightly informed as to the true meaning of the mystic tie ? Then turn again to Antony and Cleopatra , and let Agrippa be our spokesman : To hold you in perpetual amity , To make you brothers , and to knit your hearts With an unspilling knot . Do we desire that candidates for admission into the Order should learn
beforehand the fashion of their welcome ? Let us turn this time to Julius Gcesar , and let Brutus speak for us— Our hearts , Of brother ' s temper , do receive you in With all kind love , good thoughts , and reverence . But we may , perhaps , be asked which , if any , of the prominent characters in
Shakespeare ' s plays may with fair reason be adjudged to be of the Brotherhood . Shall they reply themselves ? Will their own testimony be held sufficient ? With whom commence ? Surely , with Prospero , "the great , " the potent master— Rapt in secret studies , In the liberal arts withour a parallel The Duke , in Measure for Measure , avows himself
thus—I am a Brother of gracious Order . Richard II . says of himself—I am sworn Brother .
Whether or not Othello was a Freemason seems to be an open question ; but we think we can claim Brabantio as one upon his own admission—Mine ' s not an idle cause , the Duke himself Or any of my Brothers . Glendower , in Henry TV ., would appear to have been not merely a Brother ,
but a Welsh Brother , with strong Gladstonian proclivities . For example , when he inquires , Shall we divide our right According to the threefold Order ? Benedick unmistakably was a Mason—we unhesitatingly pin our faith to him , for does not Beatrice , in Much Ado about Nothing , say of
him—He hath every month a new sworn brother . He was , doubtless , one of the most jovial members of a most popular and thriving Lodge , to which we confess we should ourselves very much like to have been attached . If we desire to represent how genial , how thoroughly hospitable a Brother
can be , what better representative can we select than Bardolph in Henry V . List to his promise—I will bestow a breakfast on you friends , And we'll be all sworn Brothers . Our old friend Pistol , in the same play , was scarcely behind in this hospitable feeling ; indeed , he just steps in and supplies what was wanting in his
Brother ' s kind invitation , when he says—And liquor likewise will I give to them , And friendship shall combine with Brotherhood . But we have stretched our cable to its limits , and must now turn for a little while from the Operative Masonsy of the past to the Speculative Masonry of the present ; and it is here we venture to think is best discovered the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Was Shakespeare A Freemason ?
should be rightly informed as to the true meaning of the mystic tie ? Then turn again to Antony and Cleopatra , and let Agrippa be our spokesman : To hold you in perpetual amity , To make you brothers , and to knit your hearts With an unspilling knot . Do we desire that candidates for admission into the Order should learn
beforehand the fashion of their welcome ? Let us turn this time to Julius Gcesar , and let Brutus speak for us— Our hearts , Of brother ' s temper , do receive you in With all kind love , good thoughts , and reverence . But we may , perhaps , be asked which , if any , of the prominent characters in
Shakespeare ' s plays may with fair reason be adjudged to be of the Brotherhood . Shall they reply themselves ? Will their own testimony be held sufficient ? With whom commence ? Surely , with Prospero , "the great , " the potent master— Rapt in secret studies , In the liberal arts withour a parallel The Duke , in Measure for Measure , avows himself
thus—I am a Brother of gracious Order . Richard II . says of himself—I am sworn Brother .
Whether or not Othello was a Freemason seems to be an open question ; but we think we can claim Brabantio as one upon his own admission—Mine ' s not an idle cause , the Duke himself Or any of my Brothers . Glendower , in Henry TV ., would appear to have been not merely a Brother ,
but a Welsh Brother , with strong Gladstonian proclivities . For example , when he inquires , Shall we divide our right According to the threefold Order ? Benedick unmistakably was a Mason—we unhesitatingly pin our faith to him , for does not Beatrice , in Much Ado about Nothing , say of
him—He hath every month a new sworn brother . He was , doubtless , one of the most jovial members of a most popular and thriving Lodge , to which we confess we should ourselves very much like to have been attached . If we desire to represent how genial , how thoroughly hospitable a Brother
can be , what better representative can we select than Bardolph in Henry V . List to his promise—I will bestow a breakfast on you friends , And we'll be all sworn Brothers . Our old friend Pistol , in the same play , was scarcely behind in this hospitable feeling ; indeed , he just steps in and supplies what was wanting in his
Brother ' s kind invitation , when he says—And liquor likewise will I give to them , And friendship shall combine with Brotherhood . But we have stretched our cable to its limits , and must now turn for a little while from the Operative Masonsy of the past to the Speculative Masonry of the present ; and it is here we venture to think is best discovered the